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Capitol Hill Classic Delivers Again in its 31st Year
By James MorelandWashington, DC
May 16, 2010
For the Washington Running Report
Below, Kate Neeper breaks the tape in the 10K
After all the crazy weather with 90 degrees, then hail, then tornados, this spring was looking crazy. Then this weekend we were treated to the gorgeous weather we all had been waiting for. Sure the skies were overcast early and we had one last juke with a couple of drops on the drive down but by 8:30 a.m. when the 31st rendition of the Capitol Hill Classic 10K got underway, the weather was near ideal.
The course starts with a mostly downhill parade to the old football stadium and one could almost forget that the final mile includes a knee-buckling trek back up Capitol Hill.
Event record holder Gurmessa Megressa (30:38 in 2006) was back and ready for action with a big smile on his face. Last year he battled the whole way with eventual winner Abiyot Endale (30:50). He lost ground in the final mile when he collided with a runner coming from the other direction and settled for second in 30:56.
Last year on this same weekend he had bested two time champion and course record holder Steven Crane at the Germantown 5 Miler. This year he raced side by side with Mohammed Awol. At the finish, they both broke Michael Wardian's 30-34 age group record (25:14) with Megressa holding a one second edge in 25:04.
So now at Capitol Hill, as runners were streaming down ‘the Hill' at their mile four, these two were again running side by side. They seemed almost playful and almost missed that last turn just before mile six. At the finish Awol somehow out leaned Megressa by three hundredths of a second to win in 31:32. Thomas Rhodes came roaring in a couple minutes later to take the last money spot in 33:45.
Surprisingly, only one masters runner finished in the top thirty. Not surprisingly, it was Malcolm Lester, 40, of Washington, DC (right) in 37:56 in 24th place.
For the women, the older runners did not have a great day against the young talent either. Place number 28, Caryn Ernst, 41, of Washington, DC was the only masters woman in the top fifty.
The battle for the top spot was between Kate Neeper and Gretchen Chick, both from the city. They were the only two women faster than a 6:00 pace. Neeper took the top honor in 36:55 with Chick close behind in 37:07. Kate Dart of Arlington, VA is pretty new to the area. Still, it is doubtful she knew anything about her pursuer Anna Novick from Massachusetts. Dart did hold on to win third place and cash with a solid 38:53.
Christopher Ryan, 51, of Washington, DC (left) was the top grandmaster in 39:28, while Lou Shapiro was the top finisher older than sixty. Shapiro noted that he had run the course many times before. Experience must help a lot as the 68-year-old finished 149th overall in 44:44.
Linda Rotunno, 50, of Washington, DC claimed top grandmaster with 48:44. Janice Jacobs, 63, of Arlington, VA was top senior in 55:18.
The sun got bright after the race and the bottled water went pretty quickly. Still, there were a lot more bagels and bananas than last year. You do burn a few calories racing around the city.
Who can figure out all these new bike lanes with instructions just for them by the different traffic lights?
At 10:30, it was time for the second event. I call it minesweeping. The distance was called a 3K and the majority of the racers were not tall enough to go on all the rides at amusement parks. At first the two wheelchairs racers, who had both raced in the 10K, were going to start separately, then we all went together. This made for a tango dance step or two as the announcer blurted out the G-O word.
The little ones fired off in a sprint and began a mile long trail of flameouts. These young actors sure made it seem as if they were dying as they twirled around, sometimes just sitting down on the pavement. Ah well, time to gear up and go after those top spots. Amazingly, they gave equal cash for the top three in both the 10K and the 3K. It was sure fortunate that the 10K winners did not know that or they would surely have double dipped.
The course was supposed to go down Massachusetts Avenue, turn back up on East Capitol Street and turn LEFT on 3rd Street. That extra block returning up 2nd Street is almost a full 3K. Instead the course went RIGHT and the final total was closer to 1.4 miles.
The top three men finished right around 8:00. The second place finisher had a slightly faster net time but as we all know, overall wins go to the person who actually breaks the tape. For the men, that was Matthias Darricarrere (#2665).
Before the race, Beth McCann was proudly telling the world that she had entered a new age division--50-54. She has been training and ready to take on the world. She moved out strongly and was delighted to finish strongly in second overall. She was a little disappointed that the distance was short but $75.00 in prize money helped cheer her up.
Awards Listing -10K
Overall Awards Based On Gun Time
Age Group Awards Based on Net Time
MALE
Place Name Ag City Time
===== ======================= == ===================== =======
1 Mohammed Awol 32 Bronx NY 31:32
2 Gurmessa Megerssa 30 Washington DC 31:32
3 Thomas Rhodes 26 Arlington VA 33:45
FEMALE
Place Name Ag City Time
===== ======================= == ===================== =======
1 Kate Neeper 26 Washington DC 36:55
2 Gretchen Chick 29 Washington DC 37:07
3 Kate Dart 30 Arlington VA 38:53
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 9
1 Alex Vine 7 Lancaster PA 58:07
2 Seth Montuori 9 Washington DC 58:31
3 Zachary Greene 9 Washington DC 59:10
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 9
1 Mia Campbell 9 Washington DC 1:02:05
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 10 - 14
1 Austin Read 14 Takoma Park MD 46:13
2 Nick Heim 14 Washington DC 49:01
3 David Conte 12 Haymarket VA 50:48
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 10 - 14
1 Laura Thompson 14 Washington DC 54:58
2 Adriana Roscus 10 Silver Spring MD 58:18
3 Brenda Rosas 11 Silver Spring MD 58:18
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 Soren Scott 18 Silver Spring MD 42:56
2 Ross Todd 19 Charleston SC 43:08
3 Ryan Mattimoe 17 Fairfax Station VA 43:15
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 Rachel Demita 19 Barberton OH 39:58
2 Lauren Kestner 18 Silver Spring MD 43:29
3 Stephanie Falcone 19 Potomac MD 46:17
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 Matt Logan 24 Ft Wayne IN 34:40
2 Dan Rhodes 24 Willow Grove PA 35:53
3 Andrew Stevenson 24 Washington DC 36:29
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 Anna Novick 21 Cambridge MA 39:11
2 Boriana Bakaltcheva 24 Charlotte NC 40:32
3 Keely Hollahan 23 Washington DC 41:27
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 Chris Johnson 28 Washington DC 35:15
2 Carlos Hunt 28 Washington DC 35:27
3 Nathan Herchenroeder 28 Washington DC 37:14
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 Heather Lindenman 28 Washington DC 41:06
2 Natalie Hanson 26 Takoma Park MD 42:06
3 Hollis Richardson 25 Silver Spring MD 43:26
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 Eddie Valentine 30 Arlington VA 36:16
2 Michael Hamberger 30 Washington DC 36:42
3 David Alexander 31 Washington DC 36:58
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 Marybeth Chosak 31 Arlington VA 39:52
2 Elizabeth Young 30 Washington DC 40:08
3 Seiko Watanabe 32 Washington DC 44:38
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 Edi Turco 37 Arlington VA 35:43
2 Rich Roberts 38 Washington DC 36:27
3 Jeffrey Hiott 36 Washington DC 37:35
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 Laura Zeilinger 37 Washington DC 39:38
2 Jennifer Maranzano 37 Washington DC 40:10
3 Annie Grondin 37 Arlington VA 42:42
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 Malcolm Lester 42 Washington DC 37:56
2 Dan Wallace 44 Alexandria VA 39:11
3 Jeff Bedell 41 Arlington VA 40:10
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 Caryn Ernst 41 Washington DC 44:57
2 Anna Hall 40 Reston VA 47:54
3 Adina Wadsworth 42 Washington DC 48:23
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 Rich Robinson 49 Chester MD 38:41
2 Bryan Mikesh 45 Fairfax VA 39:21
3 Gerald Meyer 47 Baltimore MD 41:16
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 Katherine McCann 45 Washington DC 46:35
2 Blake Rushin 48 Vienna VA 48:34
3 Kimberly Brooks 48 Washington DC 49:25
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 Christopher Ryan 51 Washington DC 39:26
2 William Sullivan 54 Uniondale NY 42:07
3 Jacques Lecuyer 50 Washington DC 42:16
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 Linda Rotunno 50 Washington DC 48:43
2 Nina Van Winkle 50 Vienna VA 50:46
3 Molly Smith 53 Washington DC 54:29
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 Lennie Carter 57 Washington DC 43:43
2 Robert Sindermann 56 Arlington VA 45:09
3 David Royle 55 Washington DC 45:43
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 Alex Burton 55 Washington DC 57:05
2 Hallie McLean 55 Arlington VA 1:02:49
3 Mary Shultz 57 Washington DC 1:02:49
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 Bob Chase 64 Falls Church VA 45:51
2 Gary Chidester 62 Woodbridge VA 47:59
3 John Eltzroth 60 Dunn Loring VA 48:00
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 Janice Jacobs 63 Arlington VA 54:40
2 Bonnie Dart 61 Oil City PA 57:21
3 Mary Alice Cahir 60 Arlington VA 58:24
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
1 Lou Shapiro 68 Silver Spring MD 44:39
2 Donald Hensel 65 Gaithersburg MD 46:44
3 John Churchman 67 Arlington VA 46:49
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
1 Sandy Derr 65 Charlottesville VA 58:14
2 Carol Schaffer 66 Silver Spring MD 1:02:01
3 Linda Howard 65 Washington DC 1:21:00
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 74
1 Alan Rider 74 Reston VA 53:23
2 Ralph Bayrer 70 Washington DC 1:00:42
3 John Finney Jr 70 Arlington VA 1:01:25
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 74
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 75 - 79
1 Mike Kelly 76 Newport News VA 58:40
2 Robert Moore 78 Alexandria VA 1:14:32
MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 3016 Michael May 24 M Washington DC 41:26
FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 1959 Lindsey Brewer 23 F Falls Church VA 49:02
Awards Listing -3K (real distance 1.4M)
Overall Awards Based On Gun Time
Age Group Awards Based on Net Times
MALE
Place Name Ag City Time
===== ======================= == ===================== =======
1 Matthias Darricarrere 17 Washington DC 7:57
2 Chris Beetley-Hagler 26 Washington DC 7:58
3 Mark Walchinsky 31 Alexandria VA 8:00
FEMALE
Place Name Ag City Time
===== ======================= == ===================== =======
1 Cassidy Paradis 12 Bethesda MD 9:20
2 Beth McCann 50 Arlington VA 9:23
3 Laura Delucia 27 Washington DC 9:36
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 9
1 Julian Morris 9 Washington DC 9:32
2 Justin Wallace 8 Washington DC 9:45
3 Eric Wright 9 Washington DC 10:20
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 9
1 Lily Heese 8 Washington DC 11:27
2 Katarina Kitarovk 8 Washington DC 11:33
3 Lilian Cason 7 Washington DC 11:38
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 10 - 14
1 Tadz Cwiklinski 14 Glen Rock PA 9:04
2 Cody Wallace 10 Washington DC 9:36
3 Kyle Kirwan 12 Silver Spring MD 10:01
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 10 - 14
1 Page Harrison 11 Washington DC 10:14
2 Annamarie Bucknum 10 Washington DC 10:46
3 Mariah Fraker 13 Washington DC 11:01
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 Raymond Cwiklinski 15 Glen Rock PA 10:52
2 Nick Gladstone 16 Washington DC 14:33
3 Ben Carleton 15 Washington DC 15:26
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 Alex Jones 18 Arlington VA 11:49
2 Brittany Cowden 15 Washington DC 11:52
3 Dora O'Donnell 15 Washington DC 12:11
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 Chris Jetton 24 Washington DC 8:16
2 Michael Nathan 22 Arlington VA 9:13
3 Steve Kiehl 24 Arlington VA 13:01
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 Corina Cerovski-Darriau 24 Washington DC 12:13
2 Alycia Janifer 23 Washington DC 12:56
3 Sarah Sunderman 24 Washington DC 13:44
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 Daniel Stuckey 25 Washington DC 8:20
2 Marty Smith 28 Washington DC 9:59
3 Brett Halleman 27 Washington DC 12:22
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 Judy Abid 29 Alexandria VA 10:08
2 Claire Barry 29 Kensington MD 11:46
3 Kristin Gilmore 29 Washington DC 11:57
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 Rob Bluey 30 Alexandria VA 11:23
2 Francis Raven 30 Washington DC 13:40
3 Warren MacQueen 31 Washington DC 15:00
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 Deborah Shelby 33 Washington DC 11:46
2 Carmen Garzone 31 Washington DC 15:01
3 Michelle Larsen 31 Arlington VA 16:13
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 Ed Aymar 35 Alexandria VA 11:07
2 Kevin Perry 35 Burke VA 11:43
3 Matt Barry 37 Kensington MD 11:46
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 Jane Yu 39 Fairfax VA 10:44
2 Lisa Fairfax 39 Chevy Chase MD 10:50
3 Lori Soto 39 Washington DC 12:37
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 Subrat Biswal 40 Washington DC 9:39
2 Tim Boyer 44 Washington DC 10:01
3 Joseph Lowe 41 Alexandria VA 10:50
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 Antonia Bernstein 44 Washington DC 12:35
2 Kimberly Jenkins-Chapma 42 Bowie MD 12:36
3 Kit Arrington 44 Washington DC 12:46
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 John Arbab 49 Arlington VA 8:50
2 David Rickman 45 Centennial CO 10:23
3 Henry Foster 47 Arlington VA 10:48
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 Tracey Pyles 45 Bethesda MD 10:12
2 Leslie Leahy 47 Fredericksburg VA 11:02
3 Kristine Jones 45 Washington DC 12:26
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 Dan Weiser 52 Washington DC 8:31
2 Jon Lapointe 50 Arlington VA 10:07
3 John Capozzi 53 Washington DC 10:55
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 Charla Rath 54 Washington DC 13:41
2 Jeanne Burcham 51 Kensington MD 17:11
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 James Moreland 57 Gaithersburg MD 9:43
2 Bartholomew Timm 58 Washington DC 12:57
3 Jody Hambrice 59 Washington DC 15:52
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 Sarah Burke 58 Washington DC 13:19
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 Anthony Gualtiens 63 Washington DC 14:01
2 Dick Stewart 60 Richmond VA 14:34
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 Sharon Kelly 60 Newport News VA 18:39
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
1 Richard Ringenberg 66 Washington DC 11:14
2 James Graber 68 Washington DC 20:41
MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 2921 Subrat Biswal 40 M Washington DC 9:39
FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 1016 Lily Heese 8 F Washington DC 11:27
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